It is highly unlikely that a person has gone through an entire lifetime without once talking to themselves. All those imaginary arguments you won in the shower, all those plans you made – everything somehow mattered at that time even though people around you thought you were crazy. But, if you did do that, science is on your side.
Lisa Ferentz, psychotherapist, believes that the more we speak to ourselves, the more we would be able to conquer and form a concrete image of our past and our future. We would be able to correctly envision our future, or the plans we are making – lowering chances of mistakes. She collects all her finding in her book, Finding Your Ruby Slippers: Transformative Life Lessons From the Therapist’s Couch.
Ferentz uses this in her treatment of her patients. She believes it would help ingrain a positive approach to their day and life as a whole. Our inner monologue influences us in many subtle and not-so-subtle ways that makes us walk through life in a certain and extremely unique way. This means that if you are constantly being overly critical of yourself, you will be having a bad day throughout. On the other hand, positive thoughts will make you day sail with high spirits and great personal returns.
A good procedure to be active in this method would be to write down the things that you are thankful about. Write down your positive qualities. Next, stand before a mirror and say it out loud. It might look silly to you, but positive reinforcements work. The more you say it, the more you will believe in it. When you believe in it the more your outlook towards life would change.
Ferentz believes that one should always indulge in pep talks that are spoken to oneself out loud. Especially when we are facing something challenging or adverse. This is when the words come into play and give us some much-needed confidence and strength to battle out the inconveniences. Interestingly, this is why athletes too are a big fan of this.
The best thing about this? It doesn’t always have to be all positive. You can also talk about negative things in life. The more you speak them out loud, the more your consciousness would be working to find a solution to it. You would find that you are validating yourself and getting some much needed boost. If you talk about things that bother you, you would find yourself asking the question ‘Is it worth thinking about it?’
So, don’t care about looking like a lunatic the next time you are talking to yourself. If Linkin Park could write a song about it, there probably isn’t much harm to it, is there?